Tokyo (SCCJI) – Switzerland has once again claimed the title of the world’s best country, according to the latest U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Countries rankings. Also, Switzerland has been chosen again as the most innovative country in the world.
Switzerland continues to impress with its excellent performance overall particularly in innovation.
Successful features
In the Best Countries ranking, Switzerland achieved the top position for the second consecutive year and the sixth time overall as the No. 1 nation on the list. The rankings reaffirm Switzerland’s supremacy, closely followed by Canada at No. 2, Sweden at No. 3, Australia at No. 4, and the United States at No. 5. Japan was at No. 6. The overall ranking of the list of best countries measures global performance on a variety of metrics.
Among other strong points, Switzerland, officially called the Swiss Confederation, has low unemployment, a skilled labor force, and one of the highest gross domestic products per capita in the world. The country’s strong economy is powered by low corporate tax rates, a highly developed service sector led by financial services, and a high-tech manufacturing industry.
Switzerland which is made up of 26 cantons and has Bern as the administrative capital makes cultural contributions disproportionate to its size. Swiss citizens have won more Nobel Prizes and registered more patents per capita than many other nations. Switzerland also has been notable for its banking sector which has increased its transparency due to improved reporting rules and legislation.
Innovation as strength
According to the United Nations Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) based in Geneva, Switzerland also defended its top position in the 2023 Innovation Country ranking ahead of Sweden and the United States. These three countries were followed by the United Kingdom, Singapore, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and the Republic of Korea. China slipped one place to 12th, Japan was ranked 13th.
Switzerland took the top spot for the thirteenth year in a row. Major contributions to the high ranking came from the general business environment, and the use of new technologies, patents, and technical know-how contributed to the position.
The country’s lack of natural resources and its rather small domestic market means that small and medium-sized companies in particular have to be innovative, as the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property pointed out already a year ago, reports the news agency Swissinfo. Science has long been a source of successful start-ups.
The WIPO ranking is based on 80 criteria, including investment, education, government research spending, and online product development. The UN organization analyzed a total of 132 economies. Burundi, Iraq, and Guinea ranked the last three spots.
Text: Martin Fritz for SCCIJ partly with material from U.S. News & World Report and WIPO, Picture: Federal Palace in Bern (Wikipedia CC BY 2.0)
